State Botanist Inventories Plants Growing at Arbuckle Springs WMA
Oklahoma Biological Survey Botanist Amy Buthod’s work has taken her across Oklahoma’s incredibly diverse ecoregions – from the high plains to the cypress forests – but her latest project has landed her where prairie and forest meet at the Wildlife Department’s Arbuckle Springs Wildlife Management Area.
“This area has a really interesting plant community,” Buthod said. “These limestone outcroppings have a suite of plants that just aren’t found outside of the Arbuckle Plains.”
 Photo by Weston Storer
Throughout the month of April, the Wildlife Department will be opening several of its Wildlife Management Area gates to grazing lease operators as they haul in the year’s allotted cattle. But where some may only see stocker calves or cow-calf pairs grazing in a pasture, wildlife biologists like Weston Storer see four-legged habitat machines.
April 1 was opening day for Cimarron Bluff Wildlife Management Area’s grazing season. Watch as the cattle were offloaded on our YouTube channel, @outdooroklahomaodwc.
 🎥 Click to watch our Outdoor Oklahoma Field Note.
🐟 Oklahoma’s 32 species of darter are some of the state’s smallest and most colorful fish. Check out this Outdoor Oklahoma Field Note to learn more about this amazing fish family.
As tempting as it is to rescue a baby bird that has left or been blown from its nest, it's often best to just walk away. As baby birds grow in the nest, they become larger, noisier, and smellier. To avoid the growing risk of predation, adults may lead the chicks away from the nest before they're fully capable of flying. The adults will continue to care for the feathered "runaway" even though it's on the ground.
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